One more reason to love project-based learning: as the weather gets warmer and the kids’ minds wander to summer, my students stay focused, working hard to complete projects that are due at the end of the semester. Of course one reason they continue to work so hard in spite of rampant spring fever is that their semester grade depends on their performance on these … Continue reading PBL conquers spring fever
Kids today are born with a mouse in their hand, right? They navigate websites intuitively, clicking their way around the Internet with their eyes closed. Their teachers are stuck in the binder-paper-and-#2-pencil routine, while the students go home to blogs, wikis and websites. Our students are the digital natives, while we are the immigrants, relying on pre-teens to show us how to tweet and upload… … Continue reading The Myth of the Digital Native
Our frenzied novel writing was repeatedly interrupted on November 30 as students let out yelps of joy when they met their word count goals. Even I disturbed the quiet when I took a writing break, loaded my novel into the NaNoWriMo word validator, and saw “WINNER!” flash across my screen. “I made it!” I yelled, jumping out of my chair and bowing to my students … Continue reading “A, B, C or D? Really?!?”
The bell rings, my classroom door flies open, and Tony comes hurtling through. “Can we write today, Mrs. Bradley? Please, please tell me we’re gonna write today!” He glances at the white board, sees “writing” on the agenda, and throws his hands up in celebration. “Yes!” In 20 years of teaching, I have never seen students this eager to write. Sure, I have had success … Continue reading “Pleeeeze, can we write today?”
Today is the perfect day to take a drive down to San Francisco: the sky is blue, the air is crisp, and a tiny bit of snow (the first in 30 years) dusted the City this morning. But while my friends and colleagues rally today in San Francisco (and across the country) for our fellow workers in Wisconsin, I am at home, working. I would … Continue reading Rallying from the kitchen table
Laura Bradley 